LOS ANGELES - No. 8 UC San Diego (7-7) opened up the first day of the 2014 SoCal Tournament hosted by UCLA with an 8-7 win over No. 9 UC Irvine (11-5). UCSD then fell to No. 1 UCLA (17-0) 15-7, in its second contest on Saturday.

Game One - No. 8 UCSD 8, No. 9 UCI 7

For the second time this season, senior David Higginson helped secure a win late in the game.

With less than a minute left in the second overtime, Higginson tied up the game against UC Irvine at 7-7. Seconds later, Matt Michalko drew the ejection and Higginson put away a pass from junior Chase Cockerill to give the Tritons an 8-7 win over the Anteaters.

"This morning's game was super entertaining. A very physical game that at times felt more like a group MMA match," head coach Denny Harper said. "Great resilience to be down one going into the final overtime and out-score them 2-0."

UCSD got out to an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter when Joe Dietrich and Josh Stiling each netted a goal. But UC Irvine's Lovre Milos converted on a 6-on-5 advantage to cut the Tritons' lead to one. The Anteaters scored one more goal before the end of the first quarter to tie it up.

UC Irvine opened up the second quarter with a goal, but Luca De Vivo and Tiki Toplak scored to give UCSD a 4-3 advantage. However, the Anteaters tied it up once again at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter for the Tritons, Stiling opened the fourth with a goal to tie the game at 5-5. Then with 3:28 left in regulation, Michalko scored a crucial goal to send the game into overtime.

UC Irvine's Larson Pfeil put the Anteaters ahead in the first overtime, but the Tritons answered with two goals by Higginson in the second overtime to take the win.

"David Higginson scoring both of those was not surprising to any of us," Harper said. "Super stoked to be top-eight again at such a major tournament."

Goalie Cameron Ravanbach recored 14 saves in the first contest of the day, which moved him into sixth place on UCSD's all-time saves list.

Game Two - No. 1 UCLA 17, No. 8 UCSD 5

After a long battle against UC Irvine, UCSD's four-game win streak ended at the hands of UCLA. The top-ranked team defeated the Tritons, 17-5.

The Bruins got out to an early 3-0 start in the first two minutes of the game before freshman Thomas Higginson put the Tritons on the board to make it 3-1. Lukas Syka added on another goal for UCSD, but UCLA still took a 6-2 lead after the first quarter.

Stiling opened up the second quarter scoring on a power play. However, that was the only goal for the Tritons that quarter. The senior netted his second goal of the game with 2:58 left in the third quarter.

Syka also recorded two goals against the Bruins, and Ravanbach made 10 stops.

"Cameron was outstanding in both games and is playing at a very elite level," Harper said.

The Tritons will begin Day Two of the SoCal Tournament Sunday at 8 a.m. where they will face UCSB.

GAME ONE
UCSD                   2              2              0              2            2      -      8
UCI                        2              2              1             1             1      -      7

GOALS
UCSD: David Higginson 2, Josh Stiling 2, Joe Dietrich 1, Luca De Vivo 1, Tiki Toplak 1, Matt Michalko 1
UCI: Lovre Milos 2, Kyle Trush 2, Justin Papa 1, Matt Skinner 1, Larson Pfeil 1

SAVES
UCSD: Cameron Ravanbach, 14
UCI: Dylan Peterson 15

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GAME TWO
UCSD                   2              1              1             1      -      5
UCLA                    6              4              4             3      -     17

GOALS
UCSD:  Lukas Syka 2, Josh Stiling 2, Thomas Higginson 1
UCLA: Gordon Marshall 3, Anthony Daboub 2, Danny McClintick 2, Ryder Roberts 2, Cristiano Mirarchi 2, Jack Fellner 2, Daniel Lenhart 1, Matt Farmer 1, David Culpan 1, Maxwell Irving 1

SAVES
UCSD: Cameron Ravanbach 10
UCLA: Garrett Danner 7, Stephen White 2

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